Playing on the strings of an electric guitar causes the pickups on its body to transform the mechanical vibrations of the strings into electric signals. As these electric signals are amplified by guitar amplifiers and fed to the loudspeaker, audible sounds are produced. However, changing the installation positions of the pickups alters the harmonic overtone and, hence, causes a change in the quality of acoustic output. When, for example, a pickup is installed closer to the bridge, the output sound is shifted to the higher register of the compass to give a harder acoustic sensation. The pickup may be installed in the position where rounded or mellow notes can be obtained.
However, there has been no point of reference in determining the proper installation position for the pickup and, therefore, the problem was unavoidable that the sound of an electric guitar varies according to different installation positions of the pickup.
It is an object of the present invention to improve the reproducibility of the output tone and derive nearly infinite and original tones from an electric guitar by introducing the concept of phantom or hypothetical frets.
Other objects as well as advantageous features of the invention will become apparent from the following description taken together with the accompanying drawings.